Thunder strikes Agradaa
Dark clouds were ominously gathering in and around the precincts of Circuit Court 10, Accra, where the trial of the ‘irrepressible’ Nana Agradaa (thunder in Twi), former fetish priestess turned spiritualist and founder of Champions International Ministry, was unfolding amidst the cacophony of boisterous noises being made by her ardent supporters who had converged on the court premises to give moral support, as you do when your spiritual guru is on public trial.
Suddenly, a bolt of thunder and lightning struck during sentencing after Agradaa had been convicted, sending her reeling and running for cover.
The harsh reality was that the self-styled preacher with a massive media presence, especially on social media, had finally met her ‘Waterloo’ - met her ‘metre’ as Ghanaians are wont to say.
Ordinarily, the jailing of any person, self-styled spiritualist or not, is no canon fodder for commentary on these pages but a combination of the perceived notoriety of Agradaa, known in public life as Patricia Asieduwa, and matters arising out of her conviction, which have direct criminal justice connotations, has driven the writing of this piece.
False pretences
Agradaa was convicted of defrauding by false pretences and charlatanic advertisement.
The facts of the case, as gleaned from the reportage of the court proceedings, were that she (Agradaa) orchestrated a fraudulent scheme during an all-night church service and had used social media to heavily advertise it.
Apparently, on October 5, 2022, she advertised in a live television broadcast on Today’s TV, as well as other social media platforms, that she would be dishing out various amounts of money (GH¢300,000) to attendees at her church who needed money for business and other pressing monetary commitments.
As proof of her ability to dish out the cash, she displayed bundles of cash in the live advertisement to entice the unsuspecting viewing audience.
Lo and behold, gullible Ghanaians, with a penchant for easy money, thronged to her church premises having travelled from all corners of the country to participate.
The ploy was for the congregants to contribute money which, in turn, she was going to double.
A tried and tested strategy of people who engage in such trickery and manipulation.
Alas, she failed to deliver on her promises, prompting the duped persons to lodge a complaint which culminated in her sentence: 15 years imprisonment for defrauding by false pretences plus a fine for the charlatanic advertisements.
Agradaa’s lawyers have since appealed the decision.
Trial, conviction
The trial and conviction of Agradaa is symptomatic of a proliferation of such practices and the dangerous manipulation of very gullible and vulnerable persons who are swayed by these false promises to make money.
On any given day, on both live television and radio, numerous self-styled pastors, spiritualists, mallams, fetish priests, etc, queue up to promise millions of cedis to people who agree to perform one ritual or the other.
There are also pastors, spiritualists etc who pay for airtime to extort money from the public on the pretext of doling out winning lottery numbers which invariably turn out to be false.
This unscrupulous and wanton exploitation of the masses by these self-styled religious/spiritual charlatans has its roots in the deeply spiritual psyche of the average Ghanaian.
The belief in a supernatural being, be it God/Allah for the Christians/Muslims or ‘bosom’ (gods) for the traditional religious enthusiasts, is at the root of the problem. It was Robert
Sutherland Rattray, a Scottish colonial official and anthropologist who published extensively on Akan culture and religion, who said – ‘the Ghanaian is notoriously superstitious’.
It is the unconditional acceptance of spiritual power amongst us that has emboldened the crooks to perennially come up with scams to defraud.
NMC
It is quite appalling, indeed criminal, for the National Media Commission to allow such wanton deception and thievery.
Yours truly personally monitored the airwaves yesterday and counted no less than 10 different self-styled pastors and spiritualists promising the world if people could make initial contributions.
If Agradaa has been jailed for making charlatanic advertisements and defrauding by false pretences, then all these crooks, masquerading as latter-day saints and promising ridiculous rewards on live television and radio, should be prosecuted as well.
Further, the National Media Commission should revise its broadcasting standards, if it doesn’t have one already, to urgently sanitise the broadcasting space.
In a country with high levels of illiteracy, coupled with wild, unscientific beliefs in the supernatural, there is an urgent need for the authorities to take action, else thunder will contrive to strike again.
The writer is a lawyer.
E-mail: georgebshaw1@gmail.com
